Dearly Departed
by accebar regina
Summary: Time has pasted, Vash is still young, and now is beginning to doubt himself. Can he pick himself back up? Maybe with a little help from his dearly departed.


This has been sitting on my computer forever because I've kept forgetting to hurry up and post it already! That said, I've read it over enough that I hope I've gotten most of the bugs out. This can be romance or friendship, I was too lazy to specify. And I had no inspiration for the title; is it that obvious? So, I don't own Trigun, and enjoy.

oooooooyes circlesoooooooooooo

Vash stood, teetering on the edge of a cliff, and looked out across the sandy landscape stretched before him. Wind brushed against him, flaring his red jacket back and cooling the sweat on his face. Vash took a step closer to the edge, wondering how close he could get before gravity would force him to either pull back or pitch forward. Everything was quiet. The world was still, and empty.

_Oh Rem. What am I to do now?_

Vash felt like there was nothing left for him. The things he had cared for had slipped away, leaving him in the dust. And now he was floundering, trying to pick up the pieces left behind with him, and trying to put them back together into something meaningful. In an attempt to find some sort of answer, Vash watched the never changing landscape and remembered.

"_Vash, you're back!"_

"_Mr. Vash!"_

_Vash saw the two insurance girls hurry towards him and got a goofy grin on his face. "Of course I'm back! Why wouldn't I return to my two favorite girls on the planet."_

_Milly giggled and Meryl just glanced away, blushing._

"_Well come on, idiot," Meryl said. "We need your help with the well we're building."_

"_Awww! I just got back! Do I hafta?" Vash complained even as the shorter of the two girls started dragging Vash down the street by his arm while the other just stifled more laughter._

_That same night, sitting on the steps outside their hotel, Vash turned to study Meryl under the light of the moons. She caught his gaze and returned with a questioned face of her own. "Yes Vash?"_

_Vash smiled. "It's just that you look so pretty." Meryl blushed, but when Vash put his arm around her, she leaned into his shoulder._

"_I missed you Vash."_

"_Me too."_

Countless other clips played through his mind, some sweet, some dangerous, some just downright funny, and some sad. All of it was leading up to those final days.

_Meryl lay in her bed, Vash sitting in a chair beside her. Milly was nowhere to be seen because she was already gone. Meryl's breath was shaky, but her voice was still strong, if not aged._

"_Vash." He lifted his eyes to meet her. She was smiling, a mix of sorrow and humor playing across her face. "Why is it you never seem to age? Why is it that I've kept getting older while you are the same as when I first met you, fifty years ago?"_

_Vash returned her small smile, his eyes soft in sorrow. He shrugged. "I'm sorry, Meryl." And there was nothing more to say. So her eyes closed in her wrinkled face and she drifted off._

_That was fifteen years ago_, Vash thought with a deep sigh. _She's gone now, Rem. Everyone is gone now._

Vash turned away from the sun setting before him. When he had last noticed, the sun had still been high in the sky. It was time to leave. He walked through the sand back to the town and his hotel room. Reaching his room, Vash fell down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

_Everyone has moved on from this world, Rem. Everyone but me. I was so happy with them. Now they're all dead. They have been for some time. I feel so lonely, Rem. Lonelier than ever, and I don't know what to think anymore._

Again, Vash wondered, _what am I to do now?_

Vash let him mind continue to wander, and followed the path of him memories once more. Some were sweet, some were dangerous, some were just downright funny, and some were sad.

But in all of his reminiscing, realization dawned on the cowboy, and Vash suddenly sat up. _Of course_! How could he have forgotten? He knew what he was to do. He knew what purpose life held for him.

_I have a mission, _Vash thought determinedly. _I have a mission to show others that problems can be solved without death. I have a mission to bring happiness and hope to people. I have a mission, _and here Vash smiled, just a little, _to bring love and peace to this world._

Suddenly, Vash felt lighter than he had since the passing of the closest friends he ever known on this planet. People were out there who needed him. And as long as that statement was true, Vash could not, would not, just sit around. He had a purpose. He was going to fulfill the dream that had started in Rem and grown in him. Vash would continue to try to bring Eden to this planet.

_Milly, Woolfwood, Meryl, Rem. Are you all watching? Because I've remembered now, and I'm going to keep trying. And I bet it will be quite an adventure to see._


End file.
